Chapter Fourteen: The Game of the Century

 The day had come in which the United States would either fall or rise...its future depending especially now on the work of two agents. Democracy was threatened by external forces, and two young spies clung to the values of their Republic during their long drive throughout the extensive night. Now, time was either their weapon to utilize in their favor or their worst enemy. 

Time never moved faster. Time was never more precious. Time was never more in need, never more desperate, never more hasty, never more urgent for a swift survival of the greatest country in the modern world. 

Luke felt the great sensations of time inside him. His body sweated like a hungry tiger after too many days in the jungle with nothing to eat. His prey, however, was nothing of personal gain, but the salvation of his country from an oppressive force out to impose communism on the world forever. 

He had remained quite all night. One jeweled rosary, royal blue and lavender purple, filled his right hand with its precious beads. He invoked Mary, Queen of Heaven, while traveling through the rural roads of Chadds Ford. Every barn or fence he passed by reminded him of the American dream...of a land of liberty for all...of the land of opportunity for men and women to enjoy a better life, to live and die in peace, while pledging loyalty to the Constitution, while seeking to defend Democracy. 

The agent bent down behind a dozen buckets of weapons. He sensed the greatest weapon close, the bomb, long in the works by these Slavic Reds, and their attempts to overtake the country, more imminent now than ever. 

''For America,'' he said, in a low, though heavy breath. 

Luke looked upwards at the ceiling of the truck, then to the floor. His body was tight from this long drive, though hardly worn. His adrenaline had been going for hours, and still was. Suddenly, he recalled not only his minor missions as a spy for the United States government, but every military tactic and war that he had ever studied, as those past events inspired him now in his duty to risk his life for others---to overcome threatening forces---to weild Democracy as his strength against an evil authoritarianism set against the dreams of a city on a hill. 

Then came the most personal confession of all, ''Anne.'' Luke said her name aloud to himself over and over, knowing that she was about to be in the middle of a great hell and would most certainly be present, dancing somewhere on Lincoln Stadium Field just as the bomb began to sound. ''Anne, give me time...not time to surrender...this is an opportunity for danger from them...give me...give me one chance for freedom...one more time to save...one more time to fight for justice.'' 

Luke recognized his need for persistence amid danger. He began breathing more heavily than before. His heart rate was up; he sensed they were close to their destination. Finally, he heard one of the drivers shout to his men, something in Russian, though he couldn't make it out. He cracked open his door, looked to his left, then his right, only to find out by the signs that they had crossed into Philadelphia...nearly present for a game where the Eagles were soon to be exposed to the world's mightiest evil. 

He noticed one of the trucks several down from him following closely from behind. ''Chris is on there...or was last time that I saw him,'' he said, lowly. ''Now, we are headed straight into Philadelphia to see the city of liberty in need of protection...Lord God, help us defend Democracy.'' 

The trucks headed toward a great hillside before a door opened out of the earth. Seeing the road, Luke realized that Dr. Rose's men had long dug their way into the ground---for something well planned out. 

''They couldn't have gone this far down under,'' he doubted, until realizing it to be the case. 

Soon, the agent realized that they were all passing by lamps and lights underground, beneath the stadium. From small cracks in the earth, he could hear shouts from the great field and realized the game's entertainment had already begun. 

Anne was on the upper earth dancing with her hips and shaking her rear end. She and her cheerleader companions missed the sight of Dr. Rose, who entered the game late, and sat briefly among 80,000 people for the next awaited opening between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants. The old man, however, soon slipped away, leaving his men to carry out the dirty work. 

Luke closed his eyes for five seconds, imagining Anne close, sensing her presence close to the line of danger. He wondered what to do next---if he could do anything. Suddenly, the lights were flickering, and he wasn't sure why. The great hallway under the earth became darker, and all the slimy mud felt more confining. 

The Russian soldiers were shouting to each other, but suddenly, gunfire erupted as a white light in the distant tunnel revealed the incoming fire. Several men were knocked down, and soon, Luke realized who was doing this. ''Chris,'' he started. 

His co-angent rushed by him and was casting the Russians off his back. Luke leapt into the fight and showed his martial arts skills in this close-contact combat. Quickly, the two spies slammed dunked half a dozen men and gathered their weapons before firing behind one of the trucks as incoming fire headed their way. 

''Fire, fire!'' Luke and Christopher kept shouting to each other as if in the midst of an actual battle. The former rushed into the front of one of the trucks and pulled the driver Christopher's way, for a hard punch. Luke drove the vehicle backwards and parked it sideways, blocking the cave from the squads of men, making it any further. The socialist order shouted with anger as they continued firing at his glass, just as Luke dodged while driving still. 

Christopher continued firing at any of the men coming their way. A little drop fell from the ceiling of mud above, as he realized how wet the ground above and beneath him was. He then turned backwards to see a cracked ramp of steel in the earth, where the Russians had recklessly dug. A gut of water was breaking through the soil and flooding the ground. 

''Chris, a little help!'' Luke shouted as he kept dodging from an array of bullets. 

Christopher bent down. ''There is loose water in it, we could all be in danger!'' he shouted. 

Luke struggled in his vehicle as two Russian men got on top of him, before throwing him to the earth. Christopher came to help him as the two fought in a bloody match against their Slavic foes. Eventually, Luke was punched to the ground before falling on something hard. He then turned over to see an open pipe in the ground, with flowing water. His hands reached for it, and he used it as a weapon of spray on the Slavs. Soon, Christopher broke another pipe as more water gushed through the great hall and onto the attackers. It soaked the feet of the Russians and made the entire floor slippery for them and their trucks to proceed forward. 

Luke leapt to the earth and rushed his body against the southeasterly edge of the wall. Christopher joined him as they felt more water drops coming their way. One of the Russians recklessly drove toward them in a truck, only to hit the wall and crash into the mud protections of a great sewer of water and release that outflowed on all of them. 

Luke held his nose as he sank deep into the sewer river that was now formed under Lincoln Stadium Field. Christopher swam near him as the entire stream of waste and water flooded outside into different parts of the city. 

Then, the two agents mutually coughed for breath just as the Russians did. Another hand-to-hand fight occurred before Luke and Christopher outran their attackers toward the stadium itself. The former then hid behind one of the adjacent buildings as Luke rushed to the stadium. The latter agent searched across the building and pushed his way past the security guards...and onto the very green plain itself. 

Luke leapt from the rows of lower seats and onto Lincoln Stadium Field. Someone was shouting about his presence as the cheerleaders fell to the earth, thinking he was a pervert. He grabbed Anne, however, and drew his gun to fire just as several men came out rushing against him. Just as security became alarmed by his presence, Christopher alerted someone inside that a bomb was present. Everyone began lifting from their seats, throwing down their hot dogs and chips, and running each other as they attempted to pull out from the game of the century. 

Luke grabbed his preferred cheerleader and dragged her with him. 

“Where are we going?” Anne asked in panic.

“To survival,” Luke returned before hiding her behind the exit doorway to the stadium. He continued firing at the thugs coming their way and used his eastern skills against them as they came closer. 

“You really know how to fight karate, don't you?” Anne asked.

“Not karate, jurso,” Luke corrected while flipping a man over his figure. 

“Same difference to me.” 

“Believe me, the two are quite different.” 

Anne nearly screamed as another attacker dodged their way, but Luke leaped into the air and locked the man out with one kick. 

More police rushed inside just as Luke and Anne disappeared. Christopher spotted the bomb found and divocevered by the local authorities, though Dr. Rose had vanished.